At a time when every TV number for the NFL is up, one is down fairly sharply.
Via Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal, the Pro Bowl Games drew a combined 5.75 million viewers on Sunday. It was a drop of 8.5 percent over last year’s inaugural non-Pro Bowl Pro Bowl.
Of that amount, 3.85 million watched on ABC, 1.83 million watched on ESPN, and and 75,000 viewed the game on DisneyXD.
It’s still a great number for football content that does not include a football game. But it’s nevertheless a red flag for the NFL at a time when everything else is going up and up and up.
Last year, people might have tuned in out of curiosity regarding the new format. This year, nearly 10 percent tuned out. If that trend continues, eventually the league will have to do something about it.
